Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s brand name trumps
his standing in this year's Nascar Sprint Cup Series in terms of generating
exposure for his sponsors.
Research from Joyce Julius & Associates, Ann Arbor, Mich., showed
that Earnhardt, currently ranked No. 3 in the championship series, garnered
$150 million in comparable television exposure value—$24 million more than
runner-up Jeff Gordon.
Thirty-three brands appear on locations affiliated with Earnhardt, the
research showed, including his car, uniform and the support crew's uniforms.
And those brands have appeared for a total of 12 hours and 45 seconds during
TV coverage of Nascar's first 10 official points races. In addition, the names
of sponsors have been mentioned by Earnhardt and announcers 33 times.
Earnhardt's top sponsors, AMP Energy and National Guard, made up nearly $78
million of exposure value, or 52% of the total in-broadcast exposure
associated with Earnhardt.
Earnhardt holds an estimated $22 million in annual endorsements, including
deals with DirecTV, Mountain Dew and the Army National Guard.
In terms of quantity, Kyle Busch led the drivers in delivering broadcast time
for the most brands with 59 sponsors appearing in combination with the driver.
Busch's sponsors also had the most verbal recognition—his sponsoring brands
were mentioned a total of 92 times.